As YuLan reached the first cavernous rock formation, she could not help but be dumbfounded once again.
They had finally reached their intended destination once they passed through the deceptively harmless looking flower field. The stones, various caves, and otherwise barren land laced with somewhat cool air was a distinct contrast to the spring like weather from before.
Because Ao Xiang, Shen Wei, Zuo BingTan, and Zuo JinHai had previously gone to the area some years ago, they already knew which cave to pick.
Nevertheless, despite the cold, the new place exuded a different kind of beauty. Sunlight gently filtered through various small openings on the ceiling, emitting a bluish tint when reaching the cold rocks and the ground inside the caves. Various hard minerals – some that were transparent and YuLan could swear that they were like the purest of crystals – were everywhere, as if they were mushrooms haphazardly sprouting out of the ground. The larger ones sprouted off several dwarf trees that somehow grew inside the cave.
"So many crystals," Zhen Zhu exclaimed, "How are we supposed to know which one to pick?"
Cao Lu laughed at her shimei's bewilderment, "It is actually much easier for us, than for Wu sect and Lin sect. For us, we just need to find crystals with yin properties. So focus and emit your qi as you walk, the crystals that also exude cool qi similar to ours would be good to be tempered for Ping sect's weapons."
"But we should proceed deeper to find the purest of crystals. The crystals close to the cave mouth – like these," Ao Xiang gestured with a wave of his hand towards their surroundings, "are mostly suitable for novices and second-rate sects. They are not pure enough and much too brittle. And remember, our weapons will be bound to us. We should choose the material carefully."
Everyone nodded their understanding and proceed deeper inside the cave. Soon, light became scarce and they began to be surrounded with darkness. The only source of light were the blue and white crystals sprouting on the ground. However, there were not as many as the ones they had seen before.
"From here onwards, if you find some metals or crystals that are suitable, you may take them. They should be good," Shen Wei instructed Ding Shun and Yu Mei, who soon dashed to harvest some crystals.
Zuo JinHai and Zuo BingTan stood guard while Qing Lian pulled Ao Xiang's hand to take some crystals as well.
Looking at the pile of crystals that everyone so far had harvested, piled up into a considerable size mound, YuLan decided to ask Cao Lu,
"DaShijie... . Although these crystals are quite light, how are we going to carry them all back to the sects?"
"Oh right, you have never travelled before, so of course you don't know," Cao Lu grinned and took out a jade token from her bosom. The token was about coin sized, smooth in appearance, looked very ordinary and somewhat lacking in lustre. It almost looked like a normal green colored pebble, one you could find lying everywhere by a river stream. But when Cao Lu injected a bit of her qi into it and directed it towards a mound of crystals they had gathered, it was as if the crystals were suddenly sucked into it, and finally disappeared.
"I-i-is that a storage ring?" Xiao Zi's face was bright with awe.
"Which part of it looks like a ring?" YuLan blinked.
Cao Lu nodded, "There's not many of these in the whole world. The Sages entrusted this to me for this mission."
The other girls nodded and also noticed that Shen Wei and Ao Xiang also had these storage rings when the crystals that the other groups had harvested also disappeared into obscure looking jade-pebbles they were holding.
"It's time to head back," Ao Xiang stretched his body and started to herd his group towards the way they had come from. But soon his steps halted when he saw a silhouette of a person almost hidden behind a rock wall. A wave of his strong qi pressure was soon unleashed, sending a message to the other Enlighteneds amongst his friends behind him, as well as a warning to the hiding person in front of him.
If he had not seen the silhouette before, he would not have noticed that the stranger had been there all along. Which meant the person likely had a higher cultivation base than he did. Ao Xiang himself was already a top-ranked Enlightened. If this stranger possessed ill will... . Ao Xiang was not sure if all of them could hold a candle to a Sage ranked cultivator. Of course the other explanation was that the person might just be a normal commoner, but which non-cultivator would have the ability to reach the land of Yanshi?
Everyone was already in battle stances and were vigilant, then the person spoke, "Ao Xiang, BingTan, Qing Lian. Shidis, shimei. It's me."
The owner of the voice stepped out. A face of a young male, not looking anywhere past thirty, with a kind and amiable appearance was soon clear for everyone to see.
Ao Xiang and Zuo BingTan were still dumbfounded – the male's face was familiar and he was wearing a green-colored robe – the uniform of Hui Lin sect.
Qing Lian, however, was the first one to react and happily dashed forward to reach the man,
"Liu Yan DaShixiong!!!"
"DaShixiong?" Xiao Zi whispered, "Isn't Ao Xiang the DaShixiong in Hui Lin sect?"
"Liu Yan... ," Cao Lu muttered, "Liu Yan... the name sounds familiar."
"Liu Yan?" Ao Xiang relaxed his stance after hearing Qing Lian exclaiming the person's name.
Liu Yan used to be the oldest disciple before his disappearance from Hui Lin sect almost a decade ago. He had embarked on a mission, but he never returned. The Sages of Hui Lin sect finally came into a conclusion that Liu Yan had chosen to abandon the sect and would not return. Nonetheless, regardless of the real reason, Liu Yan was always on good terms with other disciples and was well-loved by everyone, including Qing Lian. Back in the days, he was also one of the strongest amongst his peers. At the time, he was also stronger than Ao Xiang who had been admitted around the same time as he was.
As the Hui Lin sect's disciples started to walk forward to greet their long-lost senior, the person called Liu Yan also stepped forward, completely revealing his previously obscured physique due to the insufficient light source inside the cave.
There was a small opening on the ceiling, straight above the spot he had just stepped into. That was how YuLan noticed.
She darted forward and grabbed the sleeves of the people closest to her – Ao Xiang and Zuo BingTan. Qing Lian was already way out of her reach.
Liu Yan noticed her action and tilted his head slightly, mirth dancing in his eyes. YuLan did not like it one bit.
"What's the matter, Lan-mei?" BingTan was perplexed at the other's action and was somewhat conflicted. However, he definitely did not dislike this second instance that his sleeve had been held onto by this person.
Although her hands trembled and her mind screamed of the danger they were facing, as soon as YuLan held the two people back, she still unleashed a wave of her own qi, to try to impede Qing Lian from reaching Liu Yan's side.
As soon as the qi hit the perimeter of where Qing Lian and Liu Yan were, a wave of much stronger qi, tinted with killing intent surged back.
Ao Xiang and Zuo BingTan quickly focused their own qi. The killing intent had undoubtedly come from Liu Yan.
"Qing Lian!"
"Qing Lian shimei!"
The cocoon of panicking voices erupted, but soon the cave was lit up with a fiery red vermillion bird – the Fire Phoenix had been summoned once again. The bird let out a silent screech and unleashed a wave of energy of its own, making contact with the murderous aura.
However, when the bird's fire calmed down and the killing intent was subdued, they saw that Qing Lian was being held inside Liu Yan's embrace – the young woman was already unconscious.
"Qing Lian!!" Ao Xiang shouted while willing the Fire Phoenix to attack Liu Yan, only for the latter to laugh boisterously. The kind face of the shixiong they used to know became distorted. Liu Yan, albeit having his hands full from holding Qing Lian – unleashed a powerful surge of qi once again. This time, the Fire Phoenix recoiled slightly from the impact.
The other cultivators who wielded weapons had already joined the fray, but none of them could get close to Liu Yan, who was still acting like he was merely playing around.
"Ao Xiang. The Earth Tortoise!" Shen Wei shouted. Amidst the chaos, he managed to set up a barrier formation. However, that meant he could not be on the offensive as he needed to focus his qi to sustain the protective formation. As Liu Yan merely unleashed wave after wave of sharp murderous energy that was capable of killing without directly touching, Shen Wei did not dare to relax his formation.
Ao Xiang nodded and quickly summoned the Earth Tortoise, that soon strengthened the barrier formation Shen Wei had formed.
Once again, Shen Wei joined the battle, and this time everyone could focus on attacking, and not just defending from the malicious killing qi. The Earth Tortoise stood behind everyone, supporting the barrier that deflected Liu Yan's qi.
Liu Yan's expression became unsightly as he soon find out his indirect attack was no longer effective.
"Liu Yan does not have his sword. We may be able to win!" Ao Xiang definitely did not fail to notice that the barrage of attacks from Liu Yan were merely the latter's unleashed energy.
A sword could enhance a cultivator's qi and concentrate one's energy for offensive purposes. A weapon was a tool to condense this energy, making one's attack become more directed and deadly. Although Liu Yan's qi was powerful, without a tool to properly channel his energy, his attacks were merely blind explosives.
"If he has fallen to malice, it is no wonder he is no longer able to wield a sword." Zuo BingTan scoffed, flicking his own sword to direct another attack.
After having experienced a similar murderous energy from a flower before, how could he not know that this energy that was being unleashed by his senior, was exactly malice?
A cultivator's weapon was formed from a pure qi crystal, infused with a cultivator's purest energy as well. Malice was the exact opposite. A being that was possessed by malice, could definitely no longer wield a qi weapon.
He knew that this Liu Yan in front of him, was no longer the Liu Yan he used to know. Liu Yan had already become a Daemon.
Liu Yan's face became uglier as everyone's attacks managed to get closer to his physical being. The malice inside of him definitely did not want to leave his body; after all, the malice had taken a great deal of effort until it could finally live again.
YuLan only saw the black mist getting more dense, completely obscuring Liu Yan and Qing Lian out of sight. The rest of the Enlighteneds could only sense a sudden heightening surge of malicious qi, peaking into a destructive power that soon cause an explosion and obscure everyone's sense of sight.
No one knew how Liu Yan had managed to obtain such power, the explosion of energy was aimed at several different spots, scattering the three sects' disciples in an effort to avoid the impact.
Ao Xiang and YuLan ended up in one group; and Shen Wei and the rest were separated from them behind some rubbles – the particular portion of the cave had just caved in because of the qi explosion.
"Ao Xiang ... DaShixiong... . BingTan... shixiong." Qing Lian's weak voice was heard amidst the chaos and dust.
Ao Xiang's Earth Tortoise and Fire Phoenix had returned to the elements; and he was already close to collapsing due to the amount of qi he had expended before, not only to fight, but also to sustain the Fire Phoenix's attack and the Earth Tortoise' barrier.
When the smoke gradually eased up, everyone's eyes were wide in horror. Liu Yan was no longer in sight, but where he once stood, a hole in the ground had opened up, the depth was unfathomable. The darkness seemed to be endless, and if one was to fall into it, it was as if even the soul would be devoured by the darkness.
In fact, YuLan was sure that was exactly what would happen. From the depth of the darkness, hazy strings of blackness tried to surge forth, trying to hold onto any living being it could sense and reach for.
One living being the darkness was trying to get to, was Qing Lian, who was weakly holding onto a precarious rocky ledge with both of her hands.
The other one was Xiao Zi, whose white robe had been stained with blood. She seemed to be unconscious, her head must have been hurt by the earlier explosion. But what caused YuLan to panic was when she saw Xiao Zi's body hanging by the abyss' edge. Only some tips of jagged rock held one of her dangling legs, supporting her whole weight. She was hanging upside down, her head helplessly swayed lightly, her black hair melded with the abyss' darkness.
YuLan scrambled to the edge where Xiao Zi was hanging from. Although Qing Lian bore an uncanny resemblance to Xiao Hui, there was no doubt in YuLan's mind as to which person she put priority for at the moment.
Not far from Xiao Zi's head, the strings of blackness became more eager than ever, trying to reach her. YuLan was about to pull Xiao Zi up, when the rocks that held onto the latter's leg suddenly snapped and crumbled. YuLan dove forward and got a hold on to her friend's leg. Her own body hung by the edge, her one hand supporting her own weight and Xiao Zi's as she mustered all the strength she could to hold on to the solid ground with her other hand.
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Ao Xiang saw that YuLan had intended to help Xiao Zi, hence he was initially going to help Qing Lian.
Then he heard a low rumble as the already insecure rocks that were the sole holding safety for Xiao Zi broke, and YuLan's shriek in panic.
Ao Xiang's qi was already spent. And although YuLan normally might have been able to fly to catch Xiao Zi's falling body, there was no time at all to prepare herself for flight. She might be able to save herself, but it was impossible to also carry Xiao Zi, especially with such little space she had to prepare for her qing-gong.
Although he might not be able to see the misty blackness that YuLan claimed she saw, he definitely could feel the malice, could even almost hear the malignant glee as the abyss prepared to claim Xiao Zi's body that seemed to inevitably fall soon.
He did not know why, or how he gained the sudden burst of energy.
"That woman... . Xiao Zi... . She must not be hurt!"
Then the Fire Phoenix took form, flying towards the abyss underneath Xiao Zi. The flickering fire cleared all the malice that wanted to claim the girl's unconscious body. And as YuLan's grip on Xiao Zi's hand almost failed her, Ao Xiang noticed the trust in the pure yin maiden's eyes as she looked into his eyes, trust in him to save her friend's life.
Ao Xiang surged forward and stepped on the ledge, flying to catch Xiao Zi's body who had just fallen.
As he safely landed by the edge, he saw that YuLan had also safely sat on the ground – their huffing breaths the only testimony that they almost lost Xiao Zi by a hair's breath.
Only then did Ao Xiang finally feel that his whole body was drained of energy. Nevertheless, his previously thudding heart calmed down as he felt the warm body of the woman in his arms. She was still unconscious, but she was safe and alive.
"Safe... and alive... ." He frowned, feeling blurry by each passing second due to fatigue. Only his grip on the person inside his embrace was strong. He thought that he had felt a similar aching feeling before, for the same woman. But he could not recall when and where.
Then he recalled the face that he adored, the face that appeared in his dreams and always brought a smile and warmth to his heart.
"Qing Lian!" Ao Xiang turned his head, suddenly reminded of his shimei.
By the abyss' edge where Qing Lian was hanging on, was Zuo BingTan. Qing Lian was clutching onto Zuo BingTan's sleeves, tears streaming down her cheeks. In her eyes, there was a heartbreaking look of accusation as she stared coldly at Ao Xiang and Xiao Zi.
Shen Wei soon sat by Ao Xiang's side and began to transfer some of his qi to him.
They had managed to clear of some rubbles that had separated them. Fortunately, they were not too late to save Qing Lian as well. Zuo BingTan was the one who had helped Qing Lian.
Ao Xiang closed his eyes, feeling heartache and harrowing guilt.
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